Welcome to Chapter 8 of The New Dawn. In this chapter more allies will be made, more outposts will be liberated and more Highwaymen will die.
I've also added some stuff into the previous chapters and improved them too.
Another few days have passed in the Scavengers fight against the Highwaymen, Marcus's search for Rush is still going slow, he hasn't been able to find any Intel from Highwaymen or from the outposts that He and his Team have liberated from the Twins.
Since Nick was rescued by Marcus and Hunter He's been spending time with his family every chance he got, reconnecting with them, learning what's been going on in the last few months and just talking to them.
Hunter and Carmina have started spending more time together since they've started dating. Hunter told Jerome that he confessed his feelings to Carmina and that they're dating. Jerome was happy about their relationship, but Carmina was too scared to tell her parents so she and Hunter agreed not to tell them and they would reveal it when the time was right.
The Teens have attacked a Highwayman's Butcher Shop where they were cutting up animals for food. The fight lasted for about 10 minutes, they used a direct assault which was risky, but there weren't many Highwaymen at the Butchery, so it made it easier to attack the place. When they cleared the place out, they got started on setting the animals in the Butchery free.
Hunter looked down at a dog's corpse that laid on a table, which was butchered by the Highwayman for food. It sickened him that the Highwaymen were butchering dogs, he butchered animals too, but he never did it to a Dog before in his life, he loved dogs. He looked down at the floor, glancing at the three Highwaymen he killed: He killed the first one by emptying an arrow into his brain, the second one by slitting her throat with his knife and the last one by using a cleaver that was used to butcher the dogs but Hunter used it to butcher the Butcher.
Hunter placed a hand on the Dog's head, and gently patted it. "Rest in peace, little guy. They can't hurt ya' anymore." He muttered to the dead dog.
"Hey Hunter, come over here!" Carmina called out.
Hunter turned away from the dog and walked over to Carmina, who was trying to open up one of the cages, by beating the lock with the butt of her AR-15. She glanced up at him. "Can you help me get this cage open?" She asked, still beating on the lock.
"Why don't you just shoot the lock?" Hunter asked, smiling at her.
Carmina then looked down at her rifle and blushed in embarrassment."Oh yeah." She sighed. She moved back from the gate, aimed her rifle and shot the lock,destroying it. Hunter walked up to the gate, removed the remains of the lock and opened it, allowing the dogs to run free.
They moved on to the other cages, freeing the other dogs and setting them free. As they were about to open the final cage, Hunter looked at Carmina and it looked like she was distracted, thinking about something. She's been like this for a few days, Hunter's the only one who's noticed it. Whenever she has a moment, she thinks about something.
"Are you OK?" Hunter asked Carmina, as she opened the cage allowing the last of the dogs to run free.
She looked up at him and nodded."Yeah, why do you ask?"
"Well, you seem distracted, that's all. You've been like this for awhile." Hunter said.
Carmina shrugged."I-I don't know, I think I just got a lot on my mind right now." She supposed.
Hunter wondered, what could be distracting Carmina? He thought about it for a second and realized that it must be their relationship. Ever since they started dating, He and Carmina have been spending more time together than they usually do, they haven't told Nick and Kim or anybody else for that matter. She must be worrying about what could happen if they get caught or that something else could happen.
"Are you thinking about our...relationship?" Hunter asked, curiously.
Carmina then looked up at Hunter with an unsure look."Let's just... let's talk about this later." She said, avoiding his question.
Hunter sighed and shrugged."OK" He then looked in the cage and saw one more dog coming out, but instead of running out like the other dogs, it ran up to them with a happy smile, then tackled Carmina knocking her to the ground and licking her repeatedly in the face. She laughed as the dog licked her face, he was most likely thanking her for freeing him from the cage. The dog had a coat of short gold fur and an adorable little face.
"Hey boy...you're welcome... now get off me...please."Carmina said,laughing as the dog licked her face. She looked up at Hunter, expecting him to help her, but he was laughing as the dog licked her face. "Hunter, help me."
"Alright," Hunter said, then kneeled down. He let out a whistle and clicked his tongue. "Here boy" The dog stopped licking Carmina then looked up at him. Hunter patted his thighs, gesturing to him to come over to him. The dog got off of Carmina then ran over to Hunter, he licked Hunter's face, while he petted him on his head. "Hey there,buddy, what's your name?" He asked the dog, then gently pushed him away from his face, and looked at his neck seeing an old,worn out collar with Highwaymen markings on it, he took a close look at it and read the tag."Timber" Hunter read.
Carmina wiped the last of the slobber off her face and walked up to them, kneeling down to Timber, removing his collar from around his neck, she looked at it for a second and said."These are collars the Highwaymen use for dogs,that they're gonna take away to train."
"Well, he seems like a fighter alright." Hunter guessed."I mean, he tackled you pretty good."
She laughed in response and nodded."Yeah, do you think we should keep him?" Carmina asked, looking at Timber and petting him.
Hunter thought about it and nodded."Yeah, it might be nice to have Timber here around."
"Good, now we should go meet up with Marcus. He's probably at the Trailer Town right now, launching an attack with Nana and Jerome." Carmina guessed.
Hunter nodded."Yeah, let's get going, come on boy."
They ran out to their car, Carmina held the backseat door out for Timber and he jumped right in, then she closed the door and went up to the passenger seat while Hunter got into the Driver's Seat, putting the key in the ignition.
At the Trailer Town Marcus, Nana and Jerome launched a surprise attack on the outpost. Nana sabotaged the alarms, by shooting them. Marcus and Jerome attacked from different sides of the outpost, flanking the Highwaymen.
Marcus, Nana and Jerome have emerged victorious, Marcus contacted Kim and sent for some people to help secure the place.
The Captain looked around the Trailer Town, trying to find any info on Thomas Rush, but found nothing. Marcus was frustrated that he couldn't find anything on Rush, it seems that the Highwaymen are keeping Intel on Rush's location hidden well. He walked up to Nana and Jerome who seemed to be having a conversation.
"Gotta say Jerome, that son of yours, Hunter I believe his name is, he's quite the fighter." Nana complemented.
"Thanks, but he's not really my son, I've just been looking after him ever since his mom vanished."Jerome corrected.
Nana scoffed at Jerome."That doesn't matter Jerome, you've still done a great job in taking care of that boy."
"Well it wasn't easy, I really didn't know much about raising a child and it was hard raising him in the environment that he was in. Thankfully, I met up with some friends of mine and they managed to help me out, they had their own kid and they taught me a few things." Jerome explained.
"I see." Nana said, she stayed silent for a second and asked."Did you know his parents?"
"Yes... I did. They were good people." Jerome said somberly.
Jerome wished Hunter's Mom and Dad were here to see how their son turned out. Hunter has grown up to be a nice young man, with some killer instincts, but he was Jess's son. Hunter had Jess's stubbornness and Jake's pure-heart, he was just as kind and Selfless as he was and as stubborn as his Mom was.
"What's going on here?"Marcus asked them, as he walked over to them.
"We're just talking." Nana replied, casually as she and Jerome turned to Marcus.
"OK, I radioed Hunter and Carmina, they just finished up at the Butchery, they're coming here and they're pretty close." Marcus informed them.
Jerome nodded then asked."OK, have you found anything on Rush?"
Marcus sighed and shook his head."Unfortunately, no, they seem to be keeping that information hidden well."
"Don't worry sonny, we'll find him." Nana reassured Marcus.
"I sure as hell hope so." Marcus muttered.
Hunter and Carmina later arrived at the Trailer Town along with the people Kim sent to help secure the outpost. The Teens got out of the car with a dog following right behind them. Marcus walked up to them and glanced down at the dog right behind them."Looks like y'all made a new friend." Marcus said to them.
They both nodded at Marcus."Yeah, this is Timber, and he's gonna make a great addition to the team." Hunter stated as he knelt down to pet the dog, Timber.
"Yeah, Timber here is an attack dog, we can use him on our team." Carmina added.
Marcus knelt down and petted Timber, who was sitting down, panting."He does look like a fighter." Marcus stated.
"That's what I said." Hunter commented.
Suddenly, everyone felt the ground tremor a little; Marcus, the teens, Nana and Jerome looked to see a large cloud of smoke, that looked like it came from a loud explosion. The Captain turned to Nana and Jerome."You both stay here and help secure the outpost." He ordered then turned to Hunter and Carmina."You both, come with me." he ordered. The teens nodded and pulled out their weapons.
Marcus,the Teens and Timber ran down to the Hill to investigate the disturbance. When they made it down the Hill they looked around for what caused the explosion, until they saw a Fat man with a rocket launcher firing rockets into a train tunnel. Hunter and Carmina both groaned in annoyance, the man with the rocket launcher was Hurk Drubman.
Hunter and Carmina both smiled at the sight of Hurk, it was nice to see a familiar face out here. Hunter was close with Hurk as a kid but as he grew up he started drifting apart from him. He still likes hanging out with Hurk but he really had a knack for getting on his nerves. "You know that man?" Marcus asked them.
Hunter nodded and replied."Yeah, that's Hurk."
"I wonder what he's doing." Carmina wondered.
Marcus looked at them, seeing that they seemed to like Hurk."Is there anything I should know about him? Is he a bad person?" Marcus asked, curiously.
Hunter shook his head."No, he's a good guy, he's good to have around, but he kinda gets on my nerves sometimes." Hunter explained.
"He's an idiot, but he's a good friend of ours. We've known him since we were kids." Carmina informed Marcus.
The Teens walked up to Hurk as he was loading another rocket into his launcher. "Hey Hurk!" Hunter called out.
Hurk gasped in surprise, he quickly turned his launcher aiming it at them."Whoa Hurk, It's just us!" Carmina shouted in fear, raising her hands up.
"Yeah, please don't blow us up!" Hunter shouted, raising his hands up too.
As soon as Hurk realized that it was Hunter and Carmina, he lowered his rocket launcher and looked at them with a happy face."Oh man, Hunter and Carmina. I am so glad to see my favorite teen couple in the world." Hurk said.
"It's good to see you too Hurk" Hunter replied, lowering his hands.
"Yeah, it's nice to see another friendly face out here." Carmina said.
Hurk then grabbed them and pulled them in for a hug."It's good to see you guys." They both gave Hurk a pat on the back, they were both happy to see Hurk but they didn't want to hug him.
Marcus watched as they were talking with Hurk, then walked up to them.
Hurk let go after a moment then asked."Man, how have you two been?"
"We've been doing just fine Hurk."Carmina replied.
Hunter sighed, then asked."What are you doing out here?"
"Yeah, what are you doing out here?" Marcus asked, joining in the conversation.
Hurk looked at Marcus and it seemed like he's seen him before."Do I know you from somewhere? I mean, you look dang familiar. Like, as if we've done this before in some endless...some endless haunting loop from which neither of us may never escape...huh."
"No, I'm the Captain, my name is Marcus." The Captain introduced himself to Hurk.
"Oh yeah, I've heard about you. Anywho, I'm Hurk, and I'm real glad you showed up."
Hurk explained to Marcus that he and his Cousin were held up at a Sulfur Spring with his Baby. He told them that he was getting his car back and he needed a driver with a prowess for unregulated violence as if he were a younger version of himself. Marcus reluctantly agreed to help him out, he sent The Teens and Timber back to the Trailer Town to see if there was anything they could do to help.
At a Sulfur spring Hurk's Cousin Sharky was doing his best to Look after Hurk's son.
"Blade, don't play with that. I know you love to play with dynamite,but it's dangerous." Sharky said as he snatched a stick of dynamite out of his infant nephews hands. The baby made a fuss as soon as Sharky took the dynamite away from him. Sharky hated upsetting the little guy,but he promised his cousin Hurk that he would look after his son. Till he got back.
Sharky and his nephew "Blade" who's only a few months old are holed up in a Sulfur Spring filled with explosives. The place used to be a stronghold for the Highwaymen, until he did what he thought was the most responsible thing to do for his nephew and took the place over. Sharky has been protecting Blade as best as he could for a while, but every night the Highwayman comes to take back their stronghold, but with the explosives he put around the place the attacks have been easy to fend off.
Sharky knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer, fending off the Highwayman and taking care of Blade was really wearing him out. He realized he needed help, so he decided to contact Kim at Prosperity.
He held up his radio to his lips."Hey Kim, are you there?"
Nick and Kim sat together on the couch in the living room of Prosperity, looking at an old photo that was taken before the Collapse, it was a group photo of them with their family and friends together in front of the Spread-Eagle Bar: The Junior Deputy Jake Rook and his girlfriend Jess Black stood in the middle of the picture with their dog Boomer sitting right in front of them; Nick and Kim and their infant daughter Carmina stood by the left side of the photo, Nick was smiling, raising a beer bottle in the air, Kim smiled too, she was holding their infant daughter who was sleeping in her arms;Hurk and Sharky were making action poses that were most likely from old movies; Jerome stood holding his Bible smiling;Mary stood, crossing her arms smiling.
The Rye's were mainly looking at the Deputy in the photo, he was their closest friend and apart of their family, it's been seventeen years since they've last seen him, the last time they ever saw him was when he left in a truck with his deputies and the Captured Joseph Seed, leaving the Compound to get to safety. He disappeared without a trace when the Collapse began, when the surface became habitable again,them and a few others tried to find him but there wasn't any trace of him. Joseph Seed later reappeared with his flock trying to build a New Eden, the Rye's or any of them didn't want to believe that their friend was dead, but it was looking more likely as time passed.
Kim stroked the part of the picture where Rook was. "I miss him so much Nick, I wish Rook was with us right now." Kim wished.
Nick nodded in agreement."Me too, the Highwaymen wouldn't stand a chance if he was here with us." he stated.
"Yeah...maybe." Kim said, keeping her eyes on the photo."Do you think he could be alive out there, somewhere?" She asked her husband.
"Kim, we've looked everywhere around Hope County and haven't found any sign of him. I don't think there are many good outcomes, I mean Joseph resurfaced years ago but Jake hasn't so..." Nick considered the possibility that their friend may be dead but Kim didn't want to believe it.
"He can't be dead Nick, because after everything he's done for us and for everyone in Hope County, he can't be." Kim said to Nick.
As they were gonna continue discussing Rook, Kim's radio suddenly crackled to life."Hey Kim, are you there?" The voice on Kim's radio asked.
Kim and Nick instantly recognized the voice, it was Sharky Boshaw's. Kim sighed and brought the radio up to her lips."Sharky, is that you?"
"Hell yeah, it's Sharky here." Sharky said proudly.
"OK, why are you calling me? Are you..." Kim asked, but was interrupted by Sharky talking to somebody over the radio.
"NO NO NO NO! Put that down,buddy. Put that down little guy. That's very dangerous. Careful,I know you look cute with it but it's dangerous." Sharky said to someone over the radio.
"Sharky, is somebody with you? What's going on?" Kim asked.
"Sorry 'bout that, Me and Hurk gotta kiddo to look after now, so we did the responsible thing and took over a Stronghold full of explosives." Sharky told them.
Kim and Nick's eyes widened in surprise."Are you both insane?! That is no place for a baby, what were you two thinking?!"She yelled at them incredulously.
"Well it's just me and little Blade here right now Hurk left to find his ride a while ago." Sharky told them.
"Wha- is he serious?" Kim asked Nick, looking up at Nick.
"Look Kim I need help, Highwaymen are coming to take back their Stronghold and they're after Blade too. So can you send some people to help me?" Sharky asked Kim.
"Ugh, alright I'll contact someone and send him your way." Kim informed him.
"Awesome, I'll be waiting." Sharky then ended the radio transmission.
Kim looked at Nick and they both sighed."They're gonna get that baby killed." She said to Nick.
"We better get somebody over there as soon as possible." Nick advised, worrying more about the baby's life than Hurk or Sharky's.
Kim nodded, she turned her radio, and brought it up to her lips."Captain, are you there?"
Marcus and Hurk drove in a car that had a trap that Hurk didn't properly disarm, it went only five miles an hour and they fought groups of Highwaymen that were ambushing them. After getting to a road they decided to bail out.
"You know what, man? Fuck this car and all my memories attached to it. It's too slow,man. Let's just... let's just jump outta this junker, run like fuck and watch it explode." Hurk told Marcus.
Marcus sighed in relief. "Finally, you've come to your senses."
They both jumped out of the car and ran as fast as they could away from it. The Car exploded a few seconds later, then looked back and saw the car go up in flames.
"Woowee! Oh man. I, I know we were only going like 5 miles an hour, but my heart is poundin' and my dick is hard right now."Hurk said.
"Dude, don't tell me that."Marcus said, not wanting to hear that.
"Sorry, but that was intense, man. There was like...explosions and gunfire and fuckin Bison. And we couldn't stop."
"Yeah, because if we did the car would explode." Marcus stated, annoyed that Hurk was thrilled, he almost got them both killed.
Hurk then sighed."Look we made a pretty good team back there and I can see you kinda feeling it too so if you want we can...we can continue down this path of vengeance. And we can bust some more heads,man, you know."
Marcus thought about it, Hurk's rocket launcher could come in real handy and extra firepower will be useful in their fight against the Highwaymen.
"Alright, your skills will be useful in our fight against the Highwaymen. I'll call you if I never need your help." Marcus informed him.
"Awesome dude, we are gonna get along great." Hurk said then held out his fist.
Marcus bumped his fist and said,"Alright, we should check on the Trailer Town."
"Lead the way." Hurk offered.
Marcus and Hurk walked back to the outpost but the walk would be long ,given that they had no car and it was miles away.
Hunter and Carmina helped around the newly liberated outpost by helping the Scavengers strip the Highwaymen bodies of their weapons and equipment then dispose of them by burying their corpses in freshly dug graves. The Scavengers didn't like the idea of burying the bodies and wanted to just pile them up and burn them, but Jerome convinced them no to.
Hunter was helping Jerome carry one of the bodies into a grave, He was holding the arms while Jerome was carrying the legs.
"I don't see why we should be burying their bodies Jerome, we should've just piled up the corpses and burned them." Hunter said as they put the body into the new freshly dug grave.
Jerome sighed at Hunter's disrespect for the dead, but after all the Highwaymen have done he honestly didn't blame him."These people may have been bad people Hunter, but they're still people and they still deserve a burial."
"Jerome has a point." Carmina said as she walked over them with Timber by her side, carrying a shovel in her hands. "They're still people and they deserve to be put to rest like such."
"Whatever, let's just get this done." Hunter sighed as he picked up a shovel and started filling up the hole with dirt, Carmina did the same and she helped Hunter fill in the grave.
"So how is your relationship?" Jerome asked them.
"Good all things considered." Carmina answered.
Hunter nodded in agreement."Yeah, we've never felt closer."
Jerome was happy that Hunter and Carmina were both dating, it allowed them both to have something they both never had before. They were both happier than they've ever been since the Highwaymen came.
After they finished filling in the grave they dragged several other bodies to graves and filled them in. As they were working the heat was affecting them and they were sweating so Hunter took off his hoodie to make working easier while Carmina took her beanie off her head then took off her vest and sweater. Hunter and Carmina were finishing up with the last grave as Marcus and Hurk arrived at the Trailer Town outpost, they walked up to Hunter and Carmina as they were filling in the last grave.
Hunter looked back at them seeing them walk up to them, he sunk his shovel into the ground and leaned on it."Well well well, it's about time you two showed up." He said as he wiped some sweat off his head.
"We got here as fast as we could,but we got ambushed by Highwaymen and when we finally escaped them we had to lose the car because it was so fucking slow." Marcus explained to them.
"Fair enough." Carmina said as she finished filling in the grave then took a few breaths and threw the shovel aside. She picked up her beanie, wiped the dirt off it and put it back on her head. Hunter did the same, he picked up his hoodie,wiped the dirt off it and put it back on and looked at them.
"Where's Nana and Jerome?" Marcus asked them.
"They heard about a few Prisoner Transports near here, so they went to go liberate them, leaving us to finish up here."Carmina explained to them as she picked up her yellow sweater and put it on.
"They took Timber along with them."Hunter said then asked as he equipped his gear.."So... what's our next move?"
"I just received a transmission from Kim, Hurk's cousin Sharky has asked for our help. He's at a Sulfur Spring not far from here, apparently with Hurk's baby Blade, you guys wanna come?" Marcus asked them.
Hunter looked at Carmina who just finished putting her sweater and vest back on."What do you think?" Hunter asked her.
"Yeah," Carmina nodded at him. Hunter turned back to them and nodded."OK we'll help. We're a little tired, but we still have enough energy to fight."
"Alright, come on." Marcus ordered.
They followed Marcus to his truck, Hurk got in the front seat, while Hunter and Carmina got into the back seats.
As Marcus was driving to the Sulfur Spring everyone was discussing some things.
"So, why are you guys holding up at a Sulfur Spring?" Hunter asked Hurk.
"Well, honestly we didn't have many options so we took the place over. Besides, Blade loves that place, it's the only place he likes to sleep when he's cranky." Hurk explained to them.
"Why didn't y'all come to Prosperity?"Carmina asked.
"Well we thought it would be dangerous to head there with the patrols and all so we just decided to just hunker down ya' know." Hurk replied.
"How's Blade doing?" Carmina asked, worrying about Blade.
"Oh man, he's doing just fine. In fact he's a chip off the old block, I mean he loves farts and the sound of gunfire. He's only a few months old but he's already like me in so many ways."
"Great, soon we're gonna have two Hurk's running around. Fucking Fantastic." Hunter joked to Carmina.
"I know right? Now there's gonna be twice the mess to clean up." Carmina said, chuckling.
Hurk turned to look at Hunter and Carmina, he noticed something different about them whenever those two were together, but now they both look at each other differently. "Something's different about you two." Hurk said,taking notice of their relationship.
The Teens paused at Hurk's statement, they both glanced at each other with worried looks."Um... what are you talking about?"Hunter asked, pretending that he didn't know what Hurk was talking about.
"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Carmina asked, nervously.
"Hunter I've known you since you were like 7 or 8 years old. I know a change in you when I see it." Hurk said.
Marcus then joined the conversation, but kept his eyes on the road. "You know, Hurk has a point. For the past few days, y'all have been spending more time together than usual, you've been looking at each other differently and y'all have been disappearing many times. Something's definitely going on between you two." Marcus stated.
"You've only been here for a few weeks Marcus." Hunter argued.
Marcus nodded."Maybe, but I'm not wrong, something is definitely going on between you two."
"So, what is it? Are you two fucking or..." Hurk asked, but the Teens quickly shouted before he could continue.
"NO!" Hunter and Carmina both shouted in unison before Hurk could finish.
Seeing as how they weren't gonna let this go Hunter and Carmina looked at each other and decided to tell them the truth.
Carmina sighed. "We're... we're dating."
"What really?" Marcus said incredulously.
Hunter nodded,"Yeah, and to be honest, things between us have never been better."
"Oh shit, I knew it." Hurk stated, declaring that he knew.
Both their eyes widened at Hurk in surprise that Hurk knew about their relationship."You knew? How?" Hunter asked.
Hurk nodded."Yeah, I mean it's easy to tell, man. I'm in a relationship too ya' know."
"Well, I kind'a knew too. But, in my opinion you guys are perfect for each other." Marcus gave his opinion. "Does anyone else know?"
"Only Jerome does, probably Nana too." Hunter replied.
"Do Mom and Dad know about our relationship?"Carmina asked Marcus.
Marcus shook his head, still keeping his eyes on the road."No, they don't."
They both gave a sigh of relief. "Thank god." Carmina said relieved,putting a hand on her heart.
"They're still gonna freak out when they find out about us Carmina." Hunter advised.
Carmina then looked back at Marcus and Hurk."Can you guys promise not to tell them or anyone?"
"OK" Marcus complied.
"Yea, I can keep a secret." Hurk nodded.
They arrived at the Sulfur Spring where they found Sharky waiting for them. Hurk went up to the Tower to see his son, Sharky gave Marcus and the Teens a quick rundown, explaining that the Highwaymen attack every night, and he's managed to fend them off by rigging explosive traps that have helped him and Hurk fend them off but he's a little overwhelmed. Sharky asked them to help rig some traps from High pressure pipes. They complied and rigged up the traps.
After they were done they met up with Sharky in the garage.
"It's done,we've rigged the traps." Marcus informed Sharky.
"Oh thank you man, I really appreciate the help. I mean between the baby and these masked dill-holes I've been getting zero sleep." Sharky explained. Marcus could see the bags under his eyes, it does look like he's been working hard.
"Why don't you join Prosperity? We could use your demolition skills." Marcus offered.
Carmina then joined in."We can have people look after Blade for you."
"And you can finally get some sleep." Hunter said, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.
"I'll think about it. Hopefully these traps will fend off the shitheads tonight." Sharky hoped.
Sharky then offered them a drink that He and Sharky made personally, which was made with Ethanol. As soon as they drank it, they all passed out.
Marcus woke up just before the Highwaymen launched the attack. Marcus's eyes opened, he looked around seeing that it was night time, he got up from the ground and looked around seeing Hunter and Carmina unconscious and Hurk sitting on the bed in front of him. He looked at him seeing him get up."Oh thank the Monkey gods that you're awake. I was starting to worry that Me and Sharky would have to defend this place on our own." Hurk said relieved.
Marcus looked at Hurk with a pissed look, he grabbed him and yelled. "What the Hell was that?!"
Hurk raised his hand up in fear. "I'm sorry man, that's my bad. I forgot that not everyone can handle that stuff, like me and Sharky can. It's a special drink with some Ethanol in it." Hurk quickly explained to the Captain.
"What?!" Marcus said incredulously."Why would you Ethanol in that, that stuff isn't meant to be ingested. It will poison you if you drink it."
"Look man I'm sorry OK, I won't do it again."Hurk promised, hoping not to get hurt.
Marcus punched Hurk hard in the face, knocking him to the ground, he looked at Hurk seeing a small amount of blood leak from his mouth. "I-I deserve that." he admitted as he brought his hand up to his mouth.
He looked at Hunter and Carmina who were still unconscious from drinking their Homemade liquor. "Will they be OK?"
"Yeah, they're just unconscious, they should wake up any time now." Hurk said.
Suddenly fireworks erupted from the sky meaning that the Highwaymen were attacking."We don't have time to wait for them to wake up. Help me move them somewhere safe." The Captain ordered Hurk. Marcus picked up Carmina while Hurk picked up Hunter; they quickly moved them to a safe spot, then went outside to see the Highwaymen advancing."Hurk, get up there and blow them up. I'll stay down here and use the MG."
Hurk ran up to the top of the Tower where Sharky and Blade were, as soon as he was there he used his Rocket Launcher firing on the Highwaymen advancing towards them.
"Captain, take out any Highwaymen who fuck with the traps, the traps are supposed to fuck with them." Sharky said through his radio. "Alright."
The Captain fought hard, he kept the Highwaymen away from the traps and mowed down and who advanced with the MG's. As he fought he worried about Hunter and Carmina who were still unconscious from the drink that Sharky gave them, he tried to keep the Highwaymen from finding them.
Hunter's eyes slowly opened, he looked and saw he was laying on the floor."What the hell?" Hunter muttered as he sat up from the floor but as he did he suddenly felt his stomach churn."Oh shit." He brought his hands up to his mouth then threw up on the floor vomiting up the stuff he drank, after he was done vomiting he wondered what he was doing here, then everything came back to him. He remembered drinking Hurk and Sharky's homemade liquor then passing out. "Son of a bitch." Hunter growled, angry that he and Carmina actually drank that shit.
Just then Hunter realized Carmina drank it too, he quickly looked around for her and saw Carmina laying on the floor right beside him, unconscious. "Oh my god, Carmina!" Hunter said as he moved over to her. He turned her over and roughly shook her to try and wake her up. He shook her for a few seconds before her eyes slowly started opening, he brought her head close to him as she started to wake up."Carmina, wake up!" Hunter said, then lightly slapped her cheek.
Carmina's eyes then opened up widely, she breathed heavily, then quickly looked around and saw Hunter right in front of her, she realized that she was resting in his arms."Wha... what happened?" Carmina asked Hunter, not remembering what happened.
"We drank Hurk and Sharky's Homemade liquor then passed out." Hunter explained.
Carmina sat up in front of Hunter, they both suddenly heard gunfire outside. They quickly glanced at each other then picked up their weapons and ran outside. When the made it outside they saw the Highwayman advancing everywhere,and Marcus and Hurk fending them off as best as they could."OH SHIT!" Hunter shouted, he turned to Carmina."Come on, we need to help."
The both ran up to the stairs, Marcus and the others just finished off the 2nd wave, he looked around and saw Carmina and Hunter awake, his eyes widened as they an over to him."Holy shit are you guys OK?"
"Yeah, we're fine, a little dizzy but we're fine." Carmina reassured.
Hunter looked around at the scores of dead Highwaymen that littered the field around them."Jeez, look at the dead bodies, you sure handled yourself well." Hunter said, surprised that the Captain managed to hold off against that many Highwaymen.
Marcus and Hurk along with Sharky and Little Blade have just held off the second wave of Highwaymen, but they were amassing for one final attack.
"It wasn't just me, Hurk and Sharky hell even Blade were a real help." Marcus pointed out."You two are just in time, the Highwaymen are launching a final attack on the Springs,this is gonna be their largest assault force and we're gonna be surrounded so we need your help."
"Hunter, defend the East side." The Captain ordered.
"Carmina, defend the West side and I'll defend the North." The Captain ordered.
As the final wave attacked Everyone fought really hard: When Carmina ran out of ammo for her guns she used the MG on her side and mowed down the Highwaymen that advanced on her side;Hunter buried as many of his arrows as he could in their heads,when he ran out arrows he used his pistol and when he ran out of bullets, he used his knife and killed any Highwaymen who entered; Marcus did what he was doing before fighting to his last breath. Hurk used his rocket launcher to blow up any Highwaymen vehicles; Sharky and Blade dropped explosive barrels all over the Highwaymen from the Tower.
Finally after half an hour of fighting, the Highwaymen were retreating, everyone cheered in victory as they succeeded in holding off the Highwaymen. Hunter went out to the battlefield to retrieve his arrows from the corpses, with the help of Carmina. While Marcus talked with Hurk and Sharky about relocating to Prosperity.
As Carmina pulled one one of Hunter's arrows out of a corpse she looked at Hunter who was completely covered in a lot of blood, it was all over him. "Ugh, Hunter you should get cleaned up when we get home." Carmina suggested.
"What?"Hunter asked, then looked down at his clothes seeing the blood all over him. "Oh, right." Hunter wiped some of it off then looked at Carmina and said."Maybe you should too. I'm not the only one here covered in blood." Carmina looked down at her clothes, seeing blood stains on them, she didn't have as much blood on hers but it still stained them.
"Dammit, this is my favorite shirt." Carmina complained when she saw her sweater stained by blood. Hunter then walked over to her carrying three pulled out arrows."It a'int that bad, just wash it and it'll be fine."
"Whatever." Carmina sighed, then continued helping Hunter retrieve his arrows. When they finished retrieving Hunter's arrows they walked over to the Captain who was finishing up with Sharky who carried Blade in her arms.
"We'll ride with you to Prosperity, captain." Sharky said as he finished up with the Captain.
Hunter walked over to Sharky who seemed really tired from all his hard work."Hey Sharky, I'll hold Blade for you if you want." Hunter offered.
Sharky quickly accepted Hunter's offer, he'd been taking care of Blade for a while and needed a break from him. Sharky carefully handed him baby Blade, as soon as Hunter held him he quickly regretted offering to hold Blade, he never really held a baby before in his life. Hunter carefully held Blade in his arms trying not to drop him, Blade looked at Hunter and laughed, raising his hands out to him. Hunter nervously chuckled at Blade."Hey there...little guy it's...nice to see you."
"Oh man, Blade really likes you Hunter, that's so adorable." Hurk said, as he looked at him.
Hunter looked at himself, he was still soaked in blood and carrying a baby. "We should get back to Prosperity. I really need to get cleaned up." Hunter said.
"Yeah bros, I really need sleep. We should leave now." Sharky suggested.
Everyone got into the truck. Marcus got into the Driver's seat, Hurk got in the passenger seat, The Teens and Sharky got into the backseat with Blade still in Hunter's arms. The drive to Prosperity was long and everyone decided to catch a few Z's until they got there, they've worked hard today and needed some rest.
When Marcus arrived at the Front Gates of Prosperity, he woke everybody up and they all went inside. Kim ran up to them with a relieved look on her face."Where have y'all been, you haven't reported in for hours."
"It's...a long story." Carmina said, exhausted from the battle.
Kim looked at them but was surprised as she saw Hunter, his clothes were covered in dried up blood and he was carrying Blade as he was fast asleep in his arms. "Here Hunter, let me take him for you." Kim offered then held her hands out, Hunter handed her Baby Blade."Now you all should get cleaned up you're starting to smell, then y'all should get some rest." Kim said, Hunter smelled himself and he was starting to smell.
The Captain explained the Sulfur springs to Kim and Nick, while everyone else got cleaned up from their battle against the Highwaymen. They were furious that Hurk and Sharky poisoned them with Ethanol, but they promised they wouldn't do it again. Sharky said he could be useful to Prosperity by building explosives to help in their fight against the Twins.
After they got cleaned up Hunter put on a clean black shirt, a pair of blue Jeans with a towel wrapped around his neck; because his hair was still wet. He walked up to Carmina,who leaned on the balcony with her hands on the railing."Hey Carmina." Hunter called to her.
She looked at Hunter as he walked over to her."Hey Hunter, what is it?"
"You said we would talk about what's been bothering you and now is a good time as any."Hunter said.
"What's been bothering you?" Hunter asked.
Carmina sighed, placing her hand on her face, keeping her elbows on the railing;she hoped Hunter would forget about that conversation they had earlier today, but he's not stupid so she should have expected this conversation sooner or later. She really appreciated Hunter's concern for her,he was her closest friend, now he was her boyfriend."Hunter, you were correct earlier. I was thinking about our relationship." Carmina said, confirming Hunter's guess.
"What about it?" Hunter asked
"When we started dating... It was one of the happiest moments of my life but also the scariest."
"How?" Hunter asked.
Carmina walked over to him, their faces inches away from each other."You mean a lot to me Hunter, I'm afraid of losing you. I can't stand the thought of either of us getting killed. I just don't want to lose you."
Hunter placed his hands on her cheeks."I understand Carmina, I'm afraid of losing you too. But you shouldn't let it bother you."
"Isn't it bothering you?" She asked.
"Of course it is, but there are more important things to worry about right now, than our relationship." Hunter stated.
Hunter was right, stopping the highwaymen and freeing Hope County was more important right now, but Carmina didn't want to lose anybody important to her in her life but it was a high possibility with the Highwaymen threat.
"We'll be OK Carmina, as long as we stick together we'll be fine." Hunter reassured.
Carmina kissed Hunter for a second then said."Thanks.
They went to their rooms to get some sleep, tomorrow would be another day in the Scavengers fight against the Highwaymen to liberate Hope County.
I had a hard time writing this one. Leave your comments and let me know what you think.